Here are five suggested talking points from week three of the NFL season. You may have your own talking points to raise below.

Minnesota Vikings need to sort out their half-time refreshment

What do the Minnesota Vikings do at half-time? Eat pumpkin pizza? The Vikings have outscored opponents 54-7 in the first half this season but have been outscored 67-6 in the second. On Sunday they lost in overtime to Detroit (who are now 3-0 this season) having been 20 points ahead at the half.

In week one the Vikings were up by 10 at half-time against the Chargers and lost 17-24, the following week they were 17 up against the Buccaneers before folding to 20-24. After Sunday's defeat, $100m rushing back Adrian Peterson said: "I feel sick right now." Might have been something he ate.

Appreciate the veterans while there's still time

When Peyton Manning was making 227 consecutive starts it might have seemed like he would go on for ever. Not any more. Manning's pre-season treatment may have had the medical world a-flutter but more to the point it has the football world wondering whether he will be seen on the field again. This week it was suggested he may be back by December.

Opinions on how the Colts should address their quarterback problem correspond directly to the speaker or writer's overarching philosophical stance. The optimist waits for Peyton Manning to return. ("He will return. He must return.") The pessimist wants to give up and draft Andrew Luck. ("This era is over. Can't you see it's over?") The pragmatist looks to the young backup Curtis Painter. ("Let's use this opportunity to evaluate some prospects.") The realist advocates sticking with Kerry Collins. ("There are no viable solutions, so we might as well get our $4 million worth.") The nihilist wants to call Brett Favre. ("The season is ruined, so why not destroy hope and sanity as well?") The cynic comments on all of the others from above the fray, mocking their opinions but offering no viable alternatives, and profiting from the enterprise.

Meanwhile Michael Vick is out of action again.

As blog regular Bix2bop pointed out last week, the Eagles have specially designed their offence to protect Vick, keeping him in the pocket. Vick plainly doesn't like it there and certainly doesn't like the hits he's taking. After the game he said: "[It was] Just an unfortunate situation, after such a great play, and I felt like I got hit late. There was no flag. Broke my hand."

The status of Vick's injury changes daily: he may yet be back this weekend. But the batterings he is taking suggest that the clock is ticking on his career. Enjoy his style while you can.

Even Tom Brady can have an off-day

After losing 15 on the bounce to the Patriots, the Buffalo Bills finally broke the streak. And in what a fashion. Losing 21-0 in the second quarter the Bills came back to win 34-31. Not only that but the usually unflappable Tom Brady gave away four interceptions. And the Patriots gave up eight penalties.

Maybe we should credit the Bills, who the previous week came back from 21-3 down against the Raiders to win. But possibly we should be looking at the pressure being put on the Patriots offense by their leaky defence. New England may have scored 104 points so far this season – Brady posted a further 386 yards in this game – but the defence has given up 79 points. The Bills now lead the Patriots in the AFC East

Deion Sanders: the cutest little Angel

Deion Sanders, who was omnipresent as an athlete playing football and baseball, is once again everywhere. He is the star of a new DirecTV ad campaign which pops up in just about every ad break. Opinions are split. What do you think?

Personally I prefer this old ad:

Which leads us nicely into the Monday night football matchup, featuring one of the most storied rivalries in the NFL: the Washington Redskins versus the Dallas Cowboys.

Tony Romo in the red zone

In a nailbiter, the Cowboys finally edged out the Redskins when it turned out that 257lb linebacker Anthony Spencer is faster than 225lb QB Rex Grossman.

Romo led his team to victory through the pain of his broken rib. But the jury is still out after his previous outings (one won, one lost, in the closing seconds): the Cowboys may have scored six times, but they were all field goals.

The Cowboys now lead the Redskins 61-38 (two ties) in the 101 games between the teams in the regular season.